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These are all great suggestions! I am going to put in a plug for Synth1 from Ichiro Toda, and the Synth1 Librarian from Neutrino Sky. You can customize the Synth1 color scheme and panel size if the stock version is not to your liking. https://www.kvraudio.com/product/synth1-by-ichiro-toda https://www.kvraudio.com/product/synth1-librarian-by-neutrino-sky Here is a zip bank with 14,000+ free presets for Synth1. You WILL need the Synth1 Librarian to manage and search these presets! And you can show/hide the Synth1 UI with one click, but it is not necessary to have it open to audition presets, as the librarian provides a wrapper for the synth. https://veryrandomstreams.blogspot.com/2012/03/over-10000-free-patchessounds-for-free.html

That's one beautiful song! And the vocal style fits perfectly with the arrangement! Well done!

For synth tracks, Eventide Black Hole is becoming my favorite reverb for the bus!

Likewise!!!

I was going to suggest testing with another kit selection. Perhaps some samples have issues in the particular kit you were using. A Review of Addictive Drums 2 https://www.warpacademy.com/addictive-drums-2/ "Addictive Drums 2 employs round robin operations when handling sample playback." "A whole bunch of drum hits with different nuances are grouped together and are triggered either randomly or sequentially, this is where the real beauty in Addictive Drums 2 lies." Future Music - Round Robin Sampling "How does Addictive Drums 2 incorporate round robin sampling and other multisampling techniques?" https://www.pressreader.com/australia/future-music-9629/20160114/283841507414196 EDIT: You can also turn on/off alternate sample hits in the "Kit Piece Selection" of the AD2 Edit Page. See page 20 of the user manual.

I'm a noob with VCVRack and racks in general, but I have had a working synth setup with some basic default modules in VCVRack, starting with the MIDI-CV input module, through VCO, VCF, ADSR, MIXER, and finally the AUDIO-8 output module. Baby steps, ha! Thanks to @scook I've also successfully added the Surge Modules to my library. Then first new project - swapped in the Surge OSC, the Surge Biquad (filter), and the Surge ADSR for the respective basic modules. Then I tried the Surge WTOSC (wavetable). Good fun! Many more options for sound shaping with these modules than the basic VCVRack VCO and VCF. Good times. I think this could become a very deep rabbit hole, so I will try hard to resist temptation to dig further!

The VST2 crashed immediately after unfreezing and then opening the plugin UI and trying to play a new preset. Same exception error that @paulohad. No problem with the VST3.

I will try this to see if I can reproduce the error.

I bought Sektor on sale recently, and so far no crashes yet. I haven't tried freezing it, but I will follow up here if it does crash. Fyi, I am on Windows 10, so that might make a difference too.

A better option would be going for a custom built DESKTOP audio PC. Windows laptops can be used of course, but there are sometimes compromises and issues with using them for a DAW, especially with the typical off the shelf consumer laptops. They can be slow, and configured mainly for extended battery life and lower heat output, rather than raw processing power. Getting a laptop suitable for serious audio work will cost more than a very good desktop. Something to consider is whether you really need the portability factor.

I think I have that same Mac Mini model. I originally purchased it for my Dad to use for online banking. Then it hit end of life when the MacOS couldn't be updated due to the hardware, and the hardware couldn't be upgraded, etc. Then his bank started to block his out of date Safari browser. Then I couldn't find a current version of Chrome or Firefox that would install on that version of MacOS. So I swapped it out with a new ChromeBox. That's really all that was needed for getting online with an up to date browser. Now that Mac Mini makes a great paperweight. I suppose I could find some use for it, but I haven't decided yet, LOL!

Try unchecking "Zero Controllers When Play Stops". That may sound random, but I have heard of cases where the mod wheel can reset volume to zero.

Running Apple BootCamp will allow you to dual-boot Windows on your Intel based Mac computer. But you would still be using Windows for Cakewalk, which you say you want to avoid. https://help.cakewalk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002369733-Is-Cakewalk-by-BandLab-still-PC-only-Will-it-run-on-Mac- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Camp_(software) Logic Pro X for $199 would probably be the best DAW replacement for Cakewalk if you wanted to go Mac only. https://www.apple.com/logic-pro/

Need to keep that pachy on a short leash ...

It's definitely NOT the Z1. MIDI-OX proves that. Cakewalk is communicating only with the RME or MIDI Sport drivers as the middlemen, and doesn't directly see the Z1. So I would expect the same results with any MIDI keyboard plugged into a legacy 5-pin MIDI port on your setup, not just the Z1. If you could borrow another MIDI keyboard, you could test that, and maybe prove me wrong. So it must have something to do with those interface drivers and Cakewalk, and how they are interacting. I would look into Bob's last suggestion, and maybe even delete all control surface definitions.